bonvoyage

It does seem either recruitment fluffs it up, or the majority of who we recruit don’t understand how a seniority list works. Plan on the worst: bottom reserve for a while. If it’s better, great. If it’s bottom reserve for a while, you met your expectations.

The DEC problem is not the ones below you, it’s the ones in front of you. Again, which leads to the root cause: how a seniority list works.

Not commutable, but most pilots here manage. Line holders work 10-11 days a month. So when you can accrue a little seniority, and bid how you want, it works out great. Until then: 12 days off and reserve. As far as I know we’re not doing home based anymore? But I don’t really keep up with that, just my assumption. Charter is 8on/6off and supposed to travel to work on days on. That seems to work best for commuters, however you’ll only block maybe 40 hours a month, paid for 75 or avg line value, whichever is greater.

Operationally speaking, thanksgiving and Christmas were a mess. Understaffed, not enough airplanes and any WX or MX delays knock the domino chain fall. 2023 is focusing on opening less bases, growing our markets, and adding airframes/pilots. Ops mgmt is looking at ways to speed up turn times. It’s all a trial and error. Things have changed here so many times since I have started.

The last I heard was mgmt considering lowering upgrade time to 1000, update on that at end of January. Classes are stacked through March as of right now (they shoot for 15-20 per class, two per month). We have 313 pilots on seniority list as of today

The place has a long way to go, but it’s trending the right direction. As always, there’s gonna be some rough edges and low spots. You’re always gonna have complainers and the ones championing mgmt. I fall in the middle. My QOL is great, the money is on par (minus a 401k) with other LCC’s, and the people I work with are amazing.

SkyBound707

Thanks for the perspective, insight and for answering some of the lingering questions.

Runfast12

Really good insight, thank you!

shortspatula

It’s a startup airline that is actually growing, things change from month to month even day to day sometimes. It’s very hard for recruiters to give you the best picture of what your overall life will be like a few months down the line. You really need to understand what it means to accept the job at a startup. If you come here expecting everything just all setup for you flawlessly and predictably then you’re going to have a rough time. The other places have had decades head start on that. Even up to a month or so ago it felt like a mess as far as crew support went out on the line. As it’s been said, things are definitely trending in the right direction. They’ve made changes in that department and I feel like management at least is listening, regardless how quickly things get addressed or not. At the end of the day you have to be someone that accepts the risks of working at a startup. I mean ask any initial JetBlue or Virgin America pilots how it was first few years and I’m sure they’d all tell you the same thing. It’s complicated too because we have 3 different types of operations, the A220/Ejet passenger flying as well as the charter side. But that at least offers some variety of flying options for the pilots. Ejet charter for example has become pretty sought out with less openings available due to commutability and days off.

michael525Bdo

Is Breeze currently hiring First Officers outside of the Embark program? I live (relatively) close to BDL and I’m interested in making the jump to 121. I don’t meet DEC minimums (not enough time in aircraft with a +41k MTOW).

bonvoyage

They should be

michael525Bdo

There seems to be no way to apply unless you’re a part of Embark or a DEC. Does anyone have contact information for a recruiter?

CaptYoda

Does Breeze offer a commuting stipend like Avelo?
What are the Junior Captain/FO bases per fleet?

Swapapotamoose

No.
Jr Capt E190/ORF
Capt/Fo A220/BDL
jr FO E190/CHS but PVU has the higher % of jr guys.

shortspatula

They took away the commuting allowance after the pay raise we got back in Oct 22, but there’s still a way to request up to 3k of your pay be used tax free for commuting expenses. I think every base is attainable except for maybe TPA. PVD is opening soon, A220 only.